NotUrsula
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2002
As I'm sure everyone knows by now, there are two recounts going on in Florida, because it turns out that the state (like many others) actually didn't finish counting votes by 10 pm on Election Day, and it turns out that the totals were actually much closer than originally thought.
Every time Election Day rolls around, I get exasperated with the news process and the ridiculous race to be the first to tell us who won, even when that "news" is essentially a wild guess. (I'm not picking on any particular media outlet here -- they ALL do it.)
We get exit polls, and minute-by-minute updates as each precinct reports, and most annoying of all in Presidential Elections, the "calling" of what candidate will carry each state. In reality, because the process of counting votes in all but the tiniest communities is a process of very complicated logistics, it almost never gets completely finished before midnight on Election Night, or even by the end of the following day. In most states, state law allows at least a couple of weeks to count every vote, and in many of them, it does take that long.
I'm interested in politics, and anxious to know how elections turn out, but I honestly would prefer election boards to wait until ALL votes are certified before they release any returns, even if that process takes a couple of weeks, rather than having them rush to serve a half-baked pie. This is serious business, and IMO, we should be serious about getting it right the first time.
Newly elected officials never take office the day after being elected, so what's the rush? There is time to wait a while and be sure that no one has to retract an election announcement.
Every time Election Day rolls around, I get exasperated with the news process and the ridiculous race to be the first to tell us who won, even when that "news" is essentially a wild guess. (I'm not picking on any particular media outlet here -- they ALL do it.)
We get exit polls, and minute-by-minute updates as each precinct reports, and most annoying of all in Presidential Elections, the "calling" of what candidate will carry each state. In reality, because the process of counting votes in all but the tiniest communities is a process of very complicated logistics, it almost never gets completely finished before midnight on Election Night, or even by the end of the following day. In most states, state law allows at least a couple of weeks to count every vote, and in many of them, it does take that long.
I'm interested in politics, and anxious to know how elections turn out, but I honestly would prefer election boards to wait until ALL votes are certified before they release any returns, even if that process takes a couple of weeks, rather than having them rush to serve a half-baked pie. This is serious business, and IMO, we should be serious about getting it right the first time.
Newly elected officials never take office the day after being elected, so what's the rush? There is time to wait a while and be sure that no one has to retract an election announcement.
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